Star Wars: Should The Skywalker Saga Be Revived?

Word of a new Star Wars movie trilogy developed by writer/producer Simon Kinberg raises the question of should the Skywalker Saga continue. When news of Kinberg’s project first broke, it was reported that it would serve as Episodes 10-12 of the mainline series. However, later reports indicated the movies would be a separate story focused on a new group of characters. It remains to be seen what Lucasfilm has in store, but discussions about Kinberg’s films have brought the Skywalker Saga back to the forefront.

When Disney acquired Lucasfilm back in 2012, a sequel trilogy for the Skywalker Saga was a cornerstone of the studio’s plans. Star Wars: The Force Awakens brought the franchise back with a bang, earning positive reviews and shattering box office records. The trilogy continued with the polarizing Star Wars: The Last Jedi before wrapping up with 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which was billed as the Saga’s final chapter. While The Rise of Skywalker earned over $1 billion globally, it was by far the worst-received of Disney’s Star Wars movies, scoring 51% on Rotten Tomatoes. Everything from the film’s rushed handling of Emperor Palpatine’s return to its retconning of revelations from The Last Jedi were criticized, and the movie ended the decades-spanning epic on a sour note.

In the years since The Rise of Skywalker came out, Lucasfilm hasn’t released any new Star Wars movies. Instead, the studio has focused on building a library of TV shows set in the galaxy far, far away, including The Mandalorian, Andor, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. While a bevy of big screen Star Wars projects have been announced in the interim, only Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian & Grogu has gained tangible traction, already wrapping production well ahead of its scheduled 2026 release date. Other planned films are still lingering in various stages of development; the New Jedi Order movie featuring Rey lost writer Steven Knight.

[Related: What Will Star Wars Episodes 10 to 12 Actually Be About?]

Lucasfilm’s struggles to plot out a course for Star Wars’ movie future in the wake of The Rise of Skywalker could arguably be the strongest case for bringing the Skywalker saga back … at least from a business perspective. Disney CEO Bob Iger seems to be prioritizing quality over quantity, admitting the Mouse House is going to be “very careful” regarding new Star Wars movies. He believes the studio was “too aggressive” in releasing their first slate of Star Wars films, which premiered annually from 2015-2019. If Disney is committing to a “less is more” approach and wants to make Star Wars movies events again, reviving the Skywalker Saga with a fresh trilogy could be their best option. Audiences have shown they’ll come out in large numbers for the Saga, but spinoffs aren’t a guarantee. Solo: A Star Wars Story was the franchise’s first box office bomb, grossing $392.9 million worldwide against an inflated $275 million budget. The next chapter of the Skywalker Saga feels like a safer bet than another standalone movie.

While it may make sense financially to make Star Wars: Episode X, it becomes harder to make a case for it from a storytelling perspective. The Rise of Skywalker was constructed to be the finale, and, despite its faults, it wrapped things up. For as mishandled as Palpatine was, his presence provided a unifying thread between all the trilogies, making him the overarching villain of three eras of galactic history. Resurrecting the Sith Lord again would be even more contrived than it was in Rise of Skywalker (which at least banked on a prequel trilogy callback to justify it), and any new villain billed as the Saga’s next big bad would just invite comparisons to the Emperor. It would be very difficult to top Palpatine as a threat. What’s more, the sequel trilogy as a whole proved to be divisive with its narrative choices. It’s impossible to please everyone, but Lucasfilm could be inclined to just let the Saga rest as is instead of adding to it and risk upsetting audiences even further. The Star Wars universe is vast, with no shortage of other stories to explore.

That said, the New Jedi Order movie indicates Lucasfilm could be open to a Skywalker Saga continuation. The premise of Rey (who has taken on the Skywalker name) teaching the next generation of Force users has potential to be interesting, as it’s an angle the films haven’t fully explored yet. The original and sequel trilogies are set during eras where a Jedi Order has been wiped out, so depicting the challenges Rey faces as she begins a new one would be a fresh spin. While the New Jedi Order film would still have to deal with the baggage of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey was still a popular character. Building a film around her would be smart for business while also breaking new narrative ground. If it’s successful, maybe it’ll spawn a trilogy of its own, essentially giving viewers Episodes 10-12 even if they aren’t officially part of the Skywalker Saga.